Hello all.
It seems its been almost another month since i last updated. Time has been chugging along. I know i said i would fill in the rest of the travels to Iquitos...yet so much has been happening here that i will just give a quick synopsis.

Susan and I flew through Bolivia in about 4 days time. We needed to move quick as we had a flight scheduled for the following week out of Lima, Peru. The most notable part of our time in Bolivia was passing through the Altiplano, an incredibly large stretch of flatland situated at about 12,000 feet. This included the capital city of La Paz, and the very large lake Titicaca. The air was thin and dry, and the sun seemed so close...a very challenging environment.

Once we passed into Peru, we kept our pace up, making only two stops before reaching Lima. We spent time in a very nice colonial town called Arequipa, and then took our first real rest for two days in an oasis town called Huacachina. This town was very close to the epicenter of the recent earthquake, and for all i know, the oasis has been re-claimed by the surrounding sanddunes...though i hope not as it was a very nice place full of very friendly beings.

Arriving in Lima, we literally spent a few hours there resting in the airport before boarding a 2 hour plane. And this brings us to my incredible experiences here, in the steamy jungle-town of Iquitos.

For the past four weeks, i have been undergoing a very challenging and very rewarding process. This process has involved living with a curandero (healer), traveling to the jungle once a week and remaining there for 3 days each time, maintaining a strict diet half of the week, and drinking ayahuasca twice a week. For those that are unfamiliar with ayahuasca, i would suggest doing some research on the internet, such as arowid.org. Suffice it to say that it is a liquid mixture involving a purgative native vine, and the flowers of a plant that contain DMT, a psychoactive substance. We take this mixture twice a week, in a very intentional ceremony guided by our curandero. The ceremony begins around 9 at night and lasts about 5 hours...each time i have drunk has been a very unique experience. In general, one round of vomiting is involved, as well as much psychadelic experience including deep introspection, visions, and pychological and emotional healing. Towards the end of each session, our curandero calls each of us forward seperately and heals us with a combination of methods, including his hands, his breath, mapachos (ceremonial cigarettes), and songs (called Icaros). In fact, the songs are a very large part of the ceremony, as they are sung for about half the time, and greatly affect the physical and psychadelic experience. The curandero uses the Icaros to invoke or call forth various spirits of plants, animals, and spirit beings that he has befriended over the years. While i write about this very mundanely, it should be understood that these experiences escape discription. This is why i recommend erowid.org, as it has a many personal accounts of single ayahuasca experiences, each so full and overwhelming.

All in all, i have taken ayahuasca 7 times, and my curandero has let me know that i have been healed of almost all my disease. At some point during the middle of my time here, I received in a ceremony that i was to return home, to continue my work there. This was very surprising to me as i had planned on staying in South America for some time more. But it was very clear was i was feeling, and i realized that this was the reason i had come to south america...to follow my heart and be always listening for the next direction. I realized it was very important for me to come to argentina and work at Yacu Yura; that it was very important for me to come to the Amazon and meet my curandero; and that it is now very important for me to return to the states.

So i will be flying back to argentina on thursday the 6th from Lima, at which point i will be in capilla del monte for about a week and a half, preparing to return home. I will be home by the 25th of september. From here, i am not quite sure how my work will manifest domestically, like where i will be staying, etc., but that will come, i know. For now, closing this period of travel and healing is what is important, and this is what currently has my focus.

Everything has been exactly as it needed to be, and again i can only feel overwhelming gratitude for the grace of this world. It has not been an easy trip, but it has been true...and this, at the end of it all, is what makes the difference.

LightLifeLove,
eka

Hola mis companeros!
I am alive and well, writing to you from Iquitos, Peru. Indeed, Susan and I have been on the road for the past 2 weeks exactly, and I wanted to provide a bit of an update. Since much has happened in these weeks, and since I have a hard time spending extended periods in front of this machine, I am giving my update in sections.

Well-Wishes and Group Hugs:

About a month back, Susan and I began seriously talking about visiting my shaman friend in northern Peru. Susan had a flight back to the states at the end of August, and if there was to be a time for travel, it had to be soon. So we sat with this thought for some time, and we both felt good about it--that it was the right time for such a thing--and we began to craft a plan.

The plan eventually consisted of taking land routes up throught Argentina, Bolivia, and finally to Lima, Peru to fly the final leg to Iquitos (which has no real roads in or out). Having cemented the plan, we spent our last days at Yacu Yura mindfully, striving to be present it our actions there while preparing for a great journey elsewhere. Though Susan would be leaving South America at the end of our adventure, I planned to return to Yacu Yura at our parting, and in fact i left a good deal of things, including my guitar, at the community for later.

Our final morning was somber yet joyous. Here we were surrounded by friends, those whom we had shared with deeply in work, play, cooking, eating, song, dance, celebration, and support. We were excited, yet we also saw our parting for what it was, and for this we were joyously somber...'a bittersweet symphony' it has been said. We had our final morning circle and gave our final hugs, leaving to Capilla del Monte by taxi.


On this morning, we did not start our trip immediately, but instead spent a day with some old and new friends in Capilla. Susan and I had been invited to see some land our new friends had recently purchased in a hidden valley underneath the shadow of Uritorco. The area is called 'Ojo de Agua' or 'eye of the water', and our friend's plot is immediately boardered by a Zen community. The day was beautiful, and I got to see another area where activities of consciousness are beginning to manifest...more and more i am drawn to the area of Uritorco, and i easily see myself there for some time, helping these good works mature and unfold a bit more. The area itself of my friend's plot is almost totally pristine, with a beautiful stream running through it; the size of the plot is about 2 acres or 4 hectares. Susan and I left Capilla that day, and I for one felt excitement about what i was leaving, and excitement about what i was heading towards. Que bueno!

Viajeros:

Leaving Capilla, we headed north, bringing us into the so-called 'indiginous heart' of Argentina. The town we arrived in was the bustling, and beautiful, frontier city of Salta. Spending almost two days here, we took in our last glasses of cheap Argentine wine, I had my last true Argentine steak, and we passed the time by visiting the many artisan stands filled with beautiful works of wood, metals, and fabrics such as llama, alpaca, and wool. As our second day came to a close, we headed off towards the bus station for our 7 hour ride to the actual boarder town of Quiaca, where we would enter Bolivia at roughly 12,000 feet.

As we painlessly crossed the boarder, we entered Villazon, Bolivia's southernmost town. It was 5 am and absolutely freezing, very few people were around...mostly drunkered as the bars were emptying out at this time. As we walked up the hill to the train station, i found myself winded almost immediately. I had read about the challenges of altitude change, and I realized i was having my first experiences of this affliction. Steadying my breath and focus seemed to help a bit, and soon enough we were at the station, just prior to opening. While waiting, we ran into various english speakers from different parts, and we shared some stories and some mate in the frigid cold.

Susan and I had read about the train from Villazon to Oruro being highly recommended as relatively cheap, quick, and picturesque...all told about $20 US and 15 hours. So we bought our tickets for 3:30 that afternoon, and headed into town for some hot breakfast and indigenous experience.

Api and Coca:

Indiginous experiences indeed! Among the colorful indiginous women dressed in high skirts and multi-colored wraps, we had our first encounter with two items that would mark our time in Bolivia. The first, pictured below as a purple and white mixed liquid, is api...a hot breakfast drink of corn, fruit, and spices that forms a Bolivian staple. We immediately loved it, and found it to be a bit more nutritious than the alternative of fried dough (funnelcake anyone?). The second traditional Bolivian item we encountered was the infamous coca leaf, also pictured below. From our first taste, until we left the highlands, coca became a dear friend to us two wayward gringos. Truly it is a all-purpose leaf, combatting hunger, lethargy, altitude sickness, motion sickness, tooth decay...while also being a highly nutritious plant. In much of Bolivia and Peru, it is a keystone of indiginous culture, medicine, and nutrition. Since having this experience with coca, I can only feel saddness at how our addictive culture created unbelievable demand for cocaine, while simultaneously denouncing and criminalizing the continued indiginous use of the coca plant in the name of the 'war on drugs'.


Alrighty folks, I must take my rest and prepare for tomorrow, as we enter the jungle for the first time to stay for the next 4 days. Check back for the next installment: the train to the clouds, La Paz, and crossing into Peru.

LightLifeLove
Eka

On this day, the day of my birth, I can think of nothing better than to offer up to you all another installment of my adventures in northern Argentina. It has been a few weeks since the last--this coming sunday marking one full month of time here at Yacu Yura.

When I last left off, we (Susan, myself, James, and Gabby) were preparing for a sweat lodge to celebrate the winter solstice and the full moon. A few days before this was to happen, we traveled with a local friend to a Zen retreat center hidden in a valley below Uritorco, the local mountain. We arrived planning to stay for some hours, enjoy the environment, meditate, and return to Yacu Yura. We found a nice spot towards the end of the day and built a fire. We took time in silence and we shared circle dances. On inspiration, we agreed to spend the whole night at that spot--though we had no sleeping bags or sufficient provisions. We tended the fire all night, shifting organically between resting and tending. The full moon kept the sky lit as it passed through a cloudless sky. The temperature reached at least freezing as we witnessed a beautiful pre-morning frost. When morning came, we said our goodbyes, hiked down, and returned home for a good shower and some food.



So the day after returning from Uritorco, we prepared for the sweat lodge. And now we were 4 larger, as Niki, Halley, Andrew, and Mark arrived together from North Carolina. This was quite nice to watch our small community grow. So with our willing group, we participated in a traditional sweat lodge from the Lakota tradition. For those that may not know, the sweat lodge itself is not just a physical detox, it is a ceremony incorporating song, dance, prayer, herbs, and rebirth. The lodge itself is completely dark, rounded, and insulating--it is a symbolic womb. Rocks are heated to glowing in a large fire preceding the sweat. Invocations and dances are shared, as we prepare to enter the lodge. We enter ceremoniously, one by one on all fours, leaving our humanness behind for the time being. I was designated as the fire tender, so i entered last, and left to collect more rocks from the fire to bring into the lodge. This re-supplying of rocks happened 4 times, using about 9 rocks each time. Each of the four sessions was somewhere between 20-50 minutes, and we filled the time with song, prayers, invocations, and of course sweating.

The first session's prayers are dedicated to all those loved-ones farthest away from us, geographically or otherwise. The second session is dedicated to all those near loved-ones, including our own selves. The third session is dedicated to current issues, situations, energies, movements, etc. planet-wide that are in need of healing. And the fourth is dedicated to all yet unsaid issues. In this way mental, emotional, and physical detox unfolded together.


During the sweat i received a strong inspiration to make the coming month of July a personal experiment in raw fooding. So for the past 13 days now I have been eating about 90% raw, fruit, dried fruit, nuts and seeds (and sometimes p-butter) for breakfast, fresh veggies, fruits, nuts and seeds for lunch, and usually some fruit for an early dinner. This has been really nice, teaching me a lot about my eating habits, my body, and this particular diet. I am set to continue through this month and possibly longer.

As the days following the sweat passed by, our community again expanded, welcoming Lila (world traveler and dancer from Portugal), Molly from Massachusetts, Mat and Amanda from Cali, Sarah from England, Sophia from Vermont, and just today Ariel from Argentina. Having so many come and share very deeply in the context of spiritual-ecological community has been a wonderful gift and a wonderful challenge. What is true service other than maintaining an attitude of giving joyful and skillful help to all that need it within your environment? Living here has helped to further clarify this practice of Karma Yoga, Selfless Service.






We sing, dance, work, play, eat, rest, and share the many aspects of ourselves; we support eachother when we have fallen sick or are low, and we celebrate together when we are high. I have included some pictures of various moments over the days to give an idea of this living community.



The following weekend, many of the community members went into town to join in a group demonstration protesting large-scale explosive mining that is set to occur in a secluded valley under Uritorco, a once-sacred site for indigenous groups here. The site, Ongamira, has been mined for some time for gold on a small scale, but now the multi-national mining corporation wants to explode large parts of the area for the same purpose. This is an ill situation for almost all involved, including the unspoiled ecosystem and the many beings depending on its clean water, soil, and air. The 'manifestacion' had the large group spread information, walking around the town in a big show, talking to all that were around. Pics of this are included.



During the next week, the soft winter weather we have been enjoying took a surprising turn, and for several days we had freezing weather overnight, and it even snowed for a morning. This is the first time it has snowed here in over a decade. I later learned that during this storm it also snowed in Buenos Aires, the first in over 90 years.


To give another take on my time here so far, I have included my Yacu Yura vocab list.

mop~trapa......................broom~escoba shovel~pala..........................hose~mangera bucket~valde.......................wall~pared stove~estufa........................oven~horno
hammer~matillo....................to sweep~barrer
to plug in~enchufar................to water~regar
to harvest~cosechar...............to sow~sembrar
to return something~devolverlo
to exhaust/wear out~agotar/agotarse
to support~apoyar.................to share~compartir
to heal~sanar.......................to grow~crecer
to dig~cavar........................to cut~cortar
to sprout~brotar...................sprout~brote garden~huerta.....................beet~remolacha chard~acelga.......................chicory~achicoria cashews~castanas.................chamomile~manzanilla avacado~palta.....................peanut~mani parsley~perejil....................girisol~sunflower raw~crudo.........................soul~alma
heavy~pesado.....................light~ligero

And to finish where I began, I have included some pictures from my birthday. During the actual day, I woke up, worked, and played as usual. The day was fulfilling as normal, but even more so on this day from all the big hugs and love that i received in special. Beyond this, Susan made a raw pie/cake in secret for me...everyone sang happy birthday and we shared the tasty creation washed down with mango juice. The raw pie was incredible, with a crust of seeds and nuts, a filling of fresh fruit, honey, cinnamon, cardamom, and a top of dried fruits. Yes.


The saturday following, 10 of us went out to celebrate, both my birthday, and the departure of Halley, Mark, Matt, and Amanda. We certainly enjoyed ourselves, with much good food, good cheap wine, and a great group of friends.


So as my 5th week here comes to a warm and loving close, I simply feel so much gratitude for all my supports: those here with me at Yacu Yura, those far away, and all in between. Who I am and what I am doing would not be possible without the selfless care of so many beings in my life. I am certainly blessed, and I am trying my best to share this with all I meet.


LuzVidaAmor~
Eka

~Yacu Yura~

Hola amigos! It has been one full week since i arrived at Yacu Yura, my new home, and there is much to report. First, I am alive and well, sane and sound. The 12 hour bus ride from Buenos Aires was relatively quick and comfortable, as the seats recline to nearly supine for easy sleeping. My traveling partner Susan and I arrived in Capilla del Monte, a small town 2 hours north of Cordoba, and promptly took a remis (taxi) out to Yacu Yura. The ride in helped me to understand just how rural and rustic life here is.

After being dropped off at the entrance to the community, we walked up the stone marked path, through some dense areas of foliage, and ran into James and Gabby (the bearded man on the left and the woman), who are the long-term caretakers of Yacu Yura.

Welcome!

From this first moment, they have been an incredible presence, striking well the balance of giving hands-on support and allowing hands-off freedom. In this way I have been healthfully integrating, finding my own rhythm while attuning to the natural rhythms of this land.

Speaking of this land, striking beauty surrounds me, for which I find myself daily thankful. In some ways, the landscape reminds me of Escondido, California, my childhood home. Yet the trees, birds, bugs, sounds and smells are certainly unique. The climate is arid, and the land has been in recent times overgrazed and generally ill-treated, but through the efforts of the Yacu Yura community, the land is gradually revitalizing. I am happy to be a part of this process of revivification, as I find myself also revivifying.

My diet here is gradually and naturally moving more and more towards a raw/living one. We pick greens and herbs everyday from the gardens, and make salads for lunch kicked up with raisins, carrots, beets, and cashews, and dressed with olive oil and lemon juice. The mornings are marked by fruits and mate, while the evenings are much the same, sans mate.

Our 'official' work here comprises the hours from sun-up to around 1 pm. We maintain the gardens, weeding and watering. We take care of the compost piles, tend the young fruit trees, harveset crops, build irrigation ditches, and generally beautify the landscape. We usually stop around 12:30 to prepare some of the fresh food dishes for lunch.

Susan sorting and drying peppercorns

Tending to the hens

Spiritual work is a large and integrated aspect of life here, from silent meditations before sunrise to heart sharings at dusk. Similar to Sirius and Findhorn communities, as well as many of the spiritual leaders of our age, Yacu Yura is committed to universal spiritual principles, honoring the best in all traditions. On any given morning, we may share an Indian buddhist chant, or an Arabic incantation, or a Tibetan buddhist invocation, or a Hopi dance, or a Sufi song, or a Taoist laughing circle, etc. This, to me, is an indication of true spiritual health and balance.

Our Sacred Circle Space

Universal Spirituality

The Igloo, meditation hall

Capilla del Monte is one of the larger towns close to Yacu Yura. This past Thursday, the winter solistice, we went for the first time into Capilla to participate in a solstice ceremony. The ceremony itself took place within an open air cement circle about 50 feet across, filled with many people. Several of these people, including James and Gabby, brought Tibetan crystal singing bowls which were used to invoke and express the spiritual intentions of the humans there gathered. The intentions were five: harmony, acceptance, unity, happiness, and compassion; and like the universal practices mentioned above, these five were extended to all forms of life everywhere, beyond condition. I wish i could share with you the pure and resonating sound of the many crystal bowls harmonizing together.

A small meditation pyramid

After this inspiring ceremony, our small group went into Capilla proper for some shopping and general sight-seeing (for the edification of Susan and myself more than anything). I bought a beautiful alpaca sweater, some health food products, a mate gourd, and some ice-cream (not quite raw food i know). This was certainly fun, but I was happy to return to our quiet home after this long day.

The main drag of Capilla

Assorted crafts in Capilla

'Gordy'

Susan and I are staying in one of the dorm-esque buildings, a very beautiful structure that receives strong sun throughout the day, overlooking one of the young orchards that my work is focusing on.

An irrigation ditch for the growing orchard

A young citrus

Each day it feels more and more as a home to me. Each day I find more purpose in my work and presence here.

Well, the day is now waning, and I am off to rest. I will be back with more as time continues. Love to you all, love truly from me to you.

Here to end are some more recent pictures.

The 'drunk tree'--true oddity

Bugs and cats and flowers, oh my!

Oh great water god...

...bestow on us lifegiving water

The tower of power that brings me to you

Precious, precious hot water

LightLifeLove
Eka